A Classic Television Witch Was Born in This Massachusetts Town

Perhaps you are not old enough to recall when Bewitched was a hot first-run television show for the ABC television network, but chances are good that you've caught a rerun or two on cable TV.

Bewitched starred Elizabeth Montgomery as the lovable witch Samatha Stephens, who married a mere mortal, Darrin Stephens, to experience life as a "normal" housewife and mother.

Montgomery wiggled her nose for eight seasons from September 17, 1964 to March 25, 1972, first in black and white and then in color.

Bewitched had an ensemble cast of characters, including Dick York as Darrin, who was replaced in the role by Dick Sargent for the final three years of the series' run.

Other notable co-stars included Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur, Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara, Alice Ghostley, David White and Mabel Albertson.

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No other co-star was as impactful or popular as Agnes Moorehead, the stage and screen actress who portrayed Samantha's mother, the mortal-hating witch Endora.

Agnes Robertson Moorehead was born in Clinton, Massachusetts on December 6, 1900, less than an hour from where the Salem Witch Trials occurred. She was the daughter of Presbyterian minister John Henderson Moorehead and singer Mary McCauley Moorehead.

Ironically, the future television witch made her performance debut reciting the Lord's Prayer at her father's church. The family moved to St. Louis, where Agnes studied acting.

Moorehead was nominated for Emmy Awards six times for her role and Endora but didn't win. She won an Emmy in 1967 for an appearance on The Wild Wild West.

Moorehead was nominated for the Academy Award three times and won a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in The Magnificent Ambersons. She won a Golden Globe Award for her work in Mrs. Parkington and one for the film Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

Twice married and twice divorced, Moorehead died on April 30, 1974, in Rochester, Minnesota at age 73, and is buried in Dayton, Ohio.